(Kiri had given Skip and myself an engineering exercise in the form of a colonization project and enlists Skip's grandson Shane to help him finish it within the time-frame needed. The logistics of moving 10,000 people to a new planet were daunting.) 

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Kiri: okay, so how goes the project?

Russ: oh, I'm doing quite well on it actually. I have my place picked out......

Skip: the one to colonate the earth?

Kiri: uh-huh.

Skip: I've shined it on for a little bit.

Kiri: okay.

Skip: no, no, no, no.

Kiri: okay.

Skip: I got involved with a lady.

Kiri: you've got six weeks left.

Skip: I know. I've gotten involved with a lady and........

Kiri: oh I understand, I understand. Actually, I'm thinking that it would help somebody tremendously with reasoning, logic, planning, strategy, somebody to help you Skip.

Skip: what did you say?

Shane: I thought she was talking about me.

Skip: hey yeah.

Russ: she is talking about you.

Kiri: uh-huh.

Shane: see how it is?

Kiri: you can help Skip.

Russ: well you better explain the whole rules to him then.

Kiri: okay, this is the rule and you're going to be Skip's assistant if that suits you.

Russ: hey wait a minute, I don't get....oh I get Karra, nevermind.

Kiri: if that suitable for you young man. Okay, this is what's going on. Skip is leading a colonization force that will colonize your planet. There is nobody on your planet so there is no concern about hostilities with a war, it is a totally empty planet but, it is in its current 20th-century condition with the exhausted minerals, with the trees that are gone, with the pollution, with the current arctic conditions, the unstable weather, the hole in the ozone, all those current problems exist. The objective is to find a location that would be the best location for 10,000 individuals to land and start a colony. Also what you've got to do is plan the trip, which is a five year trip with the manifest of all the supplies that you would have on board your ship to make this colony work. You cannot dismantle the ship because the ship is as it were your lifeboat if anything goes wrong so what you have to do is bring the supplies and materials with you so that you colonize an area that has to meet the criteria of the ideal place. Now the ideal place involves ideal agriculture, ideal mineral supplies, ideal weather, ideal temperature weather wise. The right amount of rain, the right amount of sun, the right amount of cold and everything that you can think of relevant to that. Have I covered everything?

Skip: yeah I think you covered just about everything.

Shane: the weather all depends on where you live because like in the jungle, it's going be wet a lot.

Skip: no, no, no, no. You have to choose.....

Kiri: a location.

Skip: the location of where you're going to set up this 10,000 person colony. Whether it be in the jungle, in the mountains, in the South, in the North, on the North Pole, the South Pole or wherever you're going to do it.

Kiri: uh-huh, whether it's in the Americas, whether it's in Australia, Europe, Asia, Antarctica, wherever.

Skip: in the current condition of the earth today. Now, one question, minus the cities?

Kiri: minus the cities.

Skip: okay, I think I asked that before.

Kiri: uh-huh.

Skip: I just wanted make sure. Minus the cities. So another words, we got a complete wilderness......

Kiri: correct.

Skip: on the whole earth.

Kiri: uh-huh. And if it's acceptable with Shane, would you be up to helping your grandfather with this project? It would be something that would be good for learning. All sorts of things, logistics, planning, strategy, all sorts of things. You've got your whole entire planet to choose this one location.

Skip: and we gotta feed 10,000 people for five years plus bring enough equipment and supplies to form a 10,000 person colony.

Shane: okay.

Skip: you want to try it? It's a project.

Kiri: okay, got any questions except for the obvious ones about warp cores?

Skip: (laughs) hon I got to tease you about it every once in a while.

Russ: I got one.

Skip: what's that? Go ahead Russ.

Russ: can these panels be stacked and then cut after they've been put together to make a.....

(everybody laughs)

Skip: oh darling, we're just teasing, we're just teasing, you know we are.

Kiri: I know. I'm glad that he has.....

Skip: you know something? These sessions are getting more and more fun all the time.

Russ: yes they are.

Kiri: it's supposed to get as the level of conversation and interaction increases with the higher spiritual awareness and the projects, the mental projects that we give and the projects that Treebeard gives, they're more interactive.